back to my body
and, almost before I opened my eyes, shot out, "Where are we
going?"
Five pair of eyes focused
on me. Ruby spoke. "Oh."
" Oh? "
"Well, when you were
comatose the other night, there was a change of plans."
I ignored her remark about
my... episode. "And no one thought they should tell me?" I was
irked.
"Gee, Frey, you just go so
easily these days, I didn't know if I should." She thought it was
funny.
I heard my teeth
grind.
Her teasing tone
disappeared in an instant. "Frey, please. Trust us."
I waited.
"Fine," she sighed. "We are
going back to the castle."
The castle? I had been so
far off. We had been riding for days in the opposite direction and
I'd had no idea. I didn't know what irritated me worse, the fact
that they’d left me in the dark or that I'd been oblivious. And
then my brain caught up with my reaction. "Wait, why are we going
back to the castle?"
The horses slowed to a walk
and I could feel the tension surge. I swallowed hard as I waited
for her to form a response. "Freya, Fannie has destroyed a number
of Grand Council members. Those who remain are not waiting for her
there."
I let that sink in. It
hadn't sounded half as bad as I'd expected. I wondered if they were
chasing after her now, and where, if they had given up on me for
the moment, and then, again, my mind caught up. "How
many?"
"We do not have an exact
count."
"But several. And... Ruby,
I don't have my mind back." I felt my features contort and tried to
compose them.
"We will take care of you,
Frey. We will find those that remain and-"
"Ruby," I interrupted,
" why? Why haven't
I recovered? How many of them were in on the binding?"
"It's not how many, Frey.
It's which ones."
The information formed a
tumult and I took a deep breath as I attempted to find order.
Fannie was slaughtering council at random, she'd caused them to
scatter or come after her. And we had to find the right ones, those
who had twisted the spell through my mind. Then I recalled Junnie's
part in the ordeal. She'd shown up, out of the blue, and informed
on Fannie. So, she was acting on behalf of Grand Council? But I'd
seen her fighting against them at that initial battle, before she'd
gone after Asher.
My head was beginning to
throb so I drew back in an attempt to not focus. It was near
impossible and, in the end, I gave up and returned to the sky to
avoid the commotion in my head.
I circled overhead for a
while, watching us ride below and contemplating what a peculiar
view I had: I was seeing myself. I started to play a game, jumping
from the bird to my body, the view from above, the view from below,
but the strange flashes made me a little dizzy so I returned to the
bird.
I was flying when I was
attacked. Large hooks tore into my back, taking feathers with them
when they pulled away a second later. I could see the weathered
yellow curve of a beak as I was assaulted again, talons tearing
into my wings this time. I tried to maneuver clear of my aggressor
but it was futile, I was struck again and again, each time the
sharp claws tearing out my feathers. I fought to no avail. Somehow
I knew it was the loss of my feathers so I relaxed just enough to
let the bird have its control, hoping its instincts would guide us
better than my efforts. We were being thrashed by the attacker and
nothing I could do seemed to be working.
And then I remembered
myself. It wasn't my body being assailed. The realization eased the
alarm that was building and a new plan formed. I jumped to the mind
of the other bird but the second I hit, the tension increased
tenfold. The shock threw me back to my mind and my own body jerked
in response. I was just trying to breathe but I drew in a gasp as
my head snapped up to find her in the sky.
"Frey!" I heard Ruby and I
was instantly annoyed. The moment the anger had switched to
irritation, I realized I wasn't actually in danger.
I was incensed, however. My eyes
narrowed on her in the blue but before I could pluck her head from
her
and, almost before I opened my eyes, shot out, "Where are we
going?"
Five pair of eyes focused
on me. Ruby spoke. "Oh."
" Oh? "
"Well, when you were
comatose the other night, there was a change of plans."
I ignored her remark about
my... episode. "And no one thought they should tell me?" I was
irked.
"Gee, Frey, you just go so
easily these days, I didn't know if I should." She thought it was
funny.
I heard my teeth
grind.
Her teasing tone
disappeared in an instant. "Frey, please. Trust us."
I waited.
"Fine," she sighed. "We are
going back to the castle."
The castle? I had been so
far off. We had been riding for days in the opposite direction and
I'd had no idea. I didn't know what irritated me worse, the fact
that they’d left me in the dark or that I'd been oblivious. And
then my brain caught up with my reaction. "Wait, why are we going
back to the castle?"
The horses slowed to a walk
and I could feel the tension surge. I swallowed hard as I waited
for her to form a response. "Freya, Fannie has destroyed a number
of Grand Council members. Those who remain are not waiting for her
there."
I let that sink in. It
hadn't sounded half as bad as I'd expected. I wondered if they were
chasing after her now, and where, if they had given up on me for
the moment, and then, again, my mind caught up. "How
many?"
"We do not have an exact
count."
"But several. And... Ruby,
I don't have my mind back." I felt my features contort and tried to
compose them.
"We will take care of you,
Frey. We will find those that remain and-"
"Ruby," I interrupted,
" why? Why haven't
I recovered? How many of them were in on the binding?"
"It's not how many, Frey.
It's which ones."
The information formed a
tumult and I took a deep breath as I attempted to find order.
Fannie was slaughtering council at random, she'd caused them to
scatter or come after her. And we had to find the right ones, those
who had twisted the spell through my mind. Then I recalled Junnie's
part in the ordeal. She'd shown up, out of the blue, and informed
on Fannie. So, she was acting on behalf of Grand Council? But I'd
seen her fighting against them at that initial battle, before she'd
gone after Asher.
My head was beginning to
throb so I drew back in an attempt to not focus. It was near
impossible and, in the end, I gave up and returned to the sky to
avoid the commotion in my head.
I circled overhead for a
while, watching us ride below and contemplating what a peculiar
view I had: I was seeing myself. I started to play a game, jumping
from the bird to my body, the view from above, the view from below,
but the strange flashes made me a little dizzy so I returned to the
bird.
I was flying when I was
attacked. Large hooks tore into my back, taking feathers with them
when they pulled away a second later. I could see the weathered
yellow curve of a beak as I was assaulted again, talons tearing
into my wings this time. I tried to maneuver clear of my aggressor
but it was futile, I was struck again and again, each time the
sharp claws tearing out my feathers. I fought to no avail. Somehow
I knew it was the loss of my feathers so I relaxed just enough to
let the bird have its control, hoping its instincts would guide us
better than my efforts. We were being thrashed by the attacker and
nothing I could do seemed to be working.
And then I remembered
myself. It wasn't my body being assailed. The realization eased the
alarm that was building and a new plan formed. I jumped to the mind
of the other bird but the second I hit, the tension increased
tenfold. The shock threw me back to my mind and my own body jerked
in response. I was just trying to breathe but I drew in a gasp as
my head snapped up to find her in the sky.
"Frey!" I heard Ruby and I
was instantly annoyed. The moment the anger had switched to
irritation, I realized I wasn't actually in danger.
I was incensed, however. My eyes
narrowed on her in the blue but before I could pluck her head from
her
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